2013 Year in Review

So, I know I'm totally absent from this space but I wanted to give a quick 2013 year in review.  Nothing extraordinary happened to us this year but nothing devastating happened either -- I'll take it.

(I opted to do captions instead of writing under / above the pic.  I think it's too small or I'm getting too old.  Either way I'm too lazy to fix it so I hope you can read it.)

January:

I love this picture of Joe, just because.  I heart him.

Joe lost his first tooth!  It was a long time coming.  Seven years old and in the second grade.  He's 8 now and has still only lost the bottom 2 teeth.

February:

Evidently I took a lot of pictures of Joe at the beginning of the year.  This is when the boys were filling out Valentine's cards.

March:

We went to visit my cousin in Chicago in March.  This is A.  I love her.  Lots.  Want to put her in my pocket and bring her home.  She is the middle of 5 kids!  My cousin just might be crazy.  :)

We also colored eggs and had an Easter egg hunt.  I guess this is where color entered my photography this year.  :)

April:

Ummm. . . I only took some pictures of tortilla soup that I made.  That's it.  The entire month.  That is how exciting my life is.  So you get a lime.

 May:

My mom and the boys.  We made it home for the weekend and grandma had some free time.  She often works weekends so it was nice to be able to spend some time at the park with her.

I just like this one.

This was something we did for the grandmas for mother's day.  Out of 4 grandmas, only one got it.  I was not paying attention when getting frames and prints and it was one disaster after another.  Maybe we'll try again next year.

June: 

I blocked out the faces since I don't have the parent's permission to post.  James graduated from Pre-K.  Not everyone showed up for graduation but it was still cute anyway.  Look at how little my peanut it.  :)

James had a birthday in June and turned the big 5!

We went to visit my dad in June (he lives in the middle of SD) and then we continued on with him to see Mt. Rushmore.  After spending countless summers in SD it was somewhere I always wanted to go but never had been before.  We had lots of car issues on the way but it was a vacation to remember.  :)

Didn't want to overload this month but I had to post this one.  He just gets crabby and sometimes needs some time to himself.  This is one of my favorite captures from the trip.  Maybe I'll get around to editing it one of these days.

July:

Pool time at Grandma's over the 4th.

I love this pic of my cousin's twins.  First, they are adorable.  Second, I love the joy on their faces.  We were watching fireworks in the alley.

August:

I took some senior pics for a family member.  :)  I also did some family pics in August too.

We had a fun playdate with a friend of mine and her 3 girls.  I love this pic of little Kaitlyn and her momma.

September:

One of my favorite pics of the year of these two monkeys.  I just love them so much.

As much as I love the first pic, I adore this one.  This captures the fun loving side of James.  The contrasting side to the grumpy pic from June.  :)

This is my life.  During that little photo shoot this is what James collected.  He brought it home.  We have a treasure box (an actual pirate treasure box) filled with all of these "treasures."  Life with boys.

All he needed to say was "Carla.  Fix your shirt."  Funky shirt aside, this is the first day of school.  Joe is getting so big and I still can't believe my little peanut is in elementary school already.

October:

The boys finished soccer season.  Joe played most of the summer in a U8 league and then they did the fall K-2 league together.  Joe even scored 2 goals in the last game! 

I had the opportunity to take some newborn photos.

Went to my BFF's brother's wedding.  No pics with the bride or groom, but I got one with Amy -- friends since 1988. (It might have been the beginning of 1989 actually.)

Joe turned 8!  We celebrated with our traditional number chocolate chip pancake.

Halloween!  I don't want to forget about my little criminals.  They were so cute this year.

November:

The only pics I took in November were these couple of karate pics.  I guess I didn't have much inspiration.  :(

 

The first official day - before they even got their white belts.

December:

My dad turned 60 in December.  We took some pictures for him.

We also had to ham it up a little.

The little monkey.

Brothers.  That rare moment when they weren't fighting.

I didn't include pics from Christmas because this is the first time I've had my laptop on since the 24th and I haven't even uploaded the pics yet.  All in due time.


I know quite a few people that have had a lot of death and hardship in 2013.  Praying that 2014 finds everyone loved, healthy, and happy!

C